"My bigger issue is getting them to expand horizontally once they have a comb of honey blocking the queen from moving horizontally."
Michael, I know nothing about this, as my tbh teacher here in Hawaii has not mentioned it, nor have I read it except occasionally on this site. I'd like to know more about this. It seems like a great way to keep the brood out of the honey which seems to be much more a problem with tbh. Have you written about this somewhere? I'd like to read more about it and try it out.